Stupid Compass Conclusions
by Inky Wandmaker
Summary: Bucky is jealous of Peggy being in Steve's compass, Steve shows Bucky that he's still his number one.


**_{Bucky is jealous of Peggy being in Steve's compass, Steve shows Bucky that he's still his number one}_**

If he had to point out the moment it started it would have to be that night she strutted into the bar in that killer red dress and managed to capture Steve's attention for what felt like ages while he faded quietly into the background. _Is this how Steve felt around me?_ Somehow the thought made Bucky want to vomit. Was his attention also so easily shifted away when they had gone out? Somehow he feared the answer was yes. So many times while they would be on their double "dates" Steve would slip off and Bucky wouldn't even notice until after he was long gone.

But this woman, not only did she manage to steal Steve's attention, but for the entire duration of their short conversation Steve didn't even look at him. It was like he didn't even notice Bucky was there. For an irrational moment Bucky could have sworn he saw the same love directed towards her that was normally reserved for him in those clear blue eyes. When she finally walked away Bucky sighed in relief.

"I'm invisible," he tried to play it off like his heart didn't just forget how to beat for several moments. "I'm turning into you; it's like a horrible dream."

Steve turned to him and smiled and for a brief moment Bucky relaxed again, "Don't take it so hard. Maybe she's got a friend."

Bucky's chest tightened at the familiar words; the words he said all the time back in Brooklyn. The patronizing pat on his shoulder also felt too familiar. The cold sinking feeling, however, was new. New and terrible. As he turned to watch his now taller lover weave his way through the noisy crowd to get another round, James Barnes suddenly met jealousy all over again only this time it was over Steve- the one sure thing in his life- and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Sometimes he could almost convince himself that she wasn't as big a threat as he initially imagined her to be. It was times like when Steve would make sure that Bucky was always told about the new assignment first or how he would always find a way to share a tent with Bucky on every mission even if it inconvenienced the blonde. But then there were those times when she would show up and for the entirety of their conversations he would feel like he didn't even exist, that is, when he was even around when they were speaking. Most of the time they would be off discussing some classified or secret project and Bucky wouldn't even be allowed to be in the room. Worse yet was when they would reference those secret projects in casual conversation and he would be left out in the dark. _Was this what it was like for those other boys back before the war? When we would crack our inside jokes around them?_ And then there was that compass.

That fucking compass.

Steve _always_ had it with him and every time he pulled it out (which was, unfortunately, often) her pretty little face would be inside, smiling sweetly. It made Bucky's jaw clench in barely repressed jealous rage. It was such a minor thing to the rest of the commandos- to the rest of the goddamn army- that Bucky had no choice but to pretend that is was also just a minor thing but it wasn't, not to him.

At least _he _never carried around the pictures of the girls he pretended to date.

Even worse, Steve was completely oblivious to it all. Completely oblivious to the way Bucky's mannerisms would become more forcibly nonchalant whenever she was around. Totally blind to his tense shoulders whenever she was mentioned in conversation. And utterly ignorant to the way Bucky would avoid looking at maps while Steve used that stupid compass.

The final straw came when Steve came to tell Bucky of a new assignment- first, as always. They were huddled in their tent with a map rolled out between them when Steve pulled out his compass, clicked it open, and placed it right on the map. Bucky gritted is teeth and he saw red. How _dare_ he bring that silly charade into _their_ tent!?

Bucky felt something within him crack.

While Steve was midsentence Bucky reached out and with unbridled rage swept the offending object off of the map and sent it skittering into the dust. Steve stopped his explanation immediately and turned to hesitantly lock eyes with his lover.

"B-Bucky? Is everything oka-"

"No everything is not okay _Steve_!" He hissed as he clenched his fists to his side. Was his lover really that oblivious!?

With a confused frown Steve reached out to rest a calming hand on Bucky's shoulder only to have his boyfriend jerk back out of his reach. Withdrawing the hand, Steve sighed.

"Bucky… what's all this about?"

Steve watched as Bucky turned away from him and blinked quickly to try to hide the hurt and angry tears that threatened to fall. He knew better than to push the brunette in this state. Doing so would only make him crawl into his shell and divert the conversation away from whatever he didn't want to talk about. Running a hand through his own hair, Bucky took a deep breath.

"Agent Carter. You… like her, don't you? That's why she's in there." His eyes darted to the little bronze circle lying face down in the dust. With another deep breath he turned to the confused blond beside him. "Listen, if you like her just tell me now because I don't think I can take much more of whatever it is you two are doing. I feel like I'm on the outside of something and I don't like it Steve. With anyone else it _might_ be okay but…not with you. I just _can't_ be ok when it's with you."

The pained look Bucky gave him nearly broke Steve's heart as his face softened in understanding and he reached out to pull Bucky into a hug. "Oh Bucky, why didn't you tell me that it bothered you so much? I never meant to hurt you… I just- I do like Agent Cater and all but not like that. It's just- you see, some of the guys were starting to get a little suspicious of us so…I tried to shake them off a little. Pretended to nurse a crush on Peggy ya know? I didn't mean- Bucky you're still my number one, alright?"

Fighting back tears that so desperately wished to fall, Bucky clutched onto the star covering Steve's heart and tried to focus on Steve's soothing words.

"I guess I can't help but be jealous ya know? I mean- why would a guy like you wanna stay with a guy like me?"

With a soft smile Steve kissed Bucky's forehead and carded his fingers through his short brown locks. "Because I'm with you till the end of the line. I love you Bucky, and nothing's gonna change that."

As Bucky looked up with tearful eyes Steve looked down and wiped them away with a soft laugh,

"Oh Bucky, I think you need to see something."

Letting go of his unusually fragile lover, the blonde carefully pulled the top half of his uniform off while Bucky quickly brushed away his tears. When Steve started to inside out the stiff material Bucky furrowed his brow in confusion,

"What are you-?"

"Shh, you'll see."

Bucky watched with slight fascination at the many hidden seems the uniform had but when Steve started to finger around where the star was, Bucky squinted and moved closer to get a better look. Easily missed at first glance, a tiny zipper ran diagonally along a patch of cloth sewn to the star's underside to make a little pouch. With a fond smile, Steve unzipped the pouch and extracted a small, faded photo of a young Bucky Barns and handed it to his stunned lover.

"Agent Carter may be in my compass but you have _always_ been in my heart Bucky."

Running his fingers along the photo's feathered edges Bucky let out a breathy laugh before turning and capturing Steve's lips with his own,

"God I love you you little punk."

"_I_ never doubted that for a second, jerk."

Bleh, I'm not really happy with it but I've edited it half to death. It was either post it or scrap it.


End file.
